Syntactic tagging in a domain-specific context

ABSTRACT

This application relates generally to defining a domain-specific syntax characterizing a functional information system and performing operations on data entities represented by the domain-specific syntax, including defining a domain-specific syntax, receiving and storing a domain-specific data entity, assigning a syntactic tag to the domain-specific data entity, and electronically storing the tag assigned to the data entity in the electronic data store so that the tag is logically linked to the stored data entity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. section 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/801,959, entitled “Syntactic Tagging in a Domain-Specific Context,” and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/802,245, entitled “Domain-Specific Syntactic Tagging in a Functional Information System,” both by inventor Rory Riggs and filed on Mar. 15, 2013, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application relates generally to defining a domain-specific syntax characterizing a functional information system and performing operations on data entities represented by the domain-specific syntax.

BACKGROUND

In virtually all domains, attempts at classification have been made. Many of these attempts started with a one-dimensional system based on a variant of the Dewey decimal systems. These systems were augmented with facetted keywords, creating ex-post catalogues of words that were created based on the existing system. While these efforts were normal knowledge processes created on an iterative basis that helped characterize specific domains, they were not rules-based. As a result, there are significant limitations to how data structured in this manner can be used and analyzed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example domain-specific syntax for a biological domain.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example domain-specific syntax for a jobs domain.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example domain-specific syntax for a machine domain.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example domain-specific syntax for an enterprise domain.

FIGS. 5-1 to 5-2 illustrate an example syntax.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example syntax tree.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is through establishing a set of rules for a domain that it is possible to change how information in a domain is managed. The systems and methods described herein can be configured to perform syntactic-tagging using a domain-specific syntax, developing tags based on the syntax, and applying the tags to domain-specific data entities. This disclosure describes the existence and use of domain-specific syntax and domain-specific syntactic positions, including the identification of attributes related to domain-specific data entities that are associated with syntactic positions. It further describes the relational attributes of syntactic tags that enable syntactic positions to be related to each other.

As used herein, syntax can be considered to be a set of rules. A syntactic position is a valid position based on this set of rules. A symbol in a database marks a data entity. A syntactic tag marks the association between a symbol and a rule. A syntactic tag associates the data entity marked by a symbol to the other data entities in a domain based on the syntax-established set of rules. This process of syntactic tagging provides a means for relating domain-specific information. It takes information in a domain and tags it with rules that relate it in the domain. Syntactic tags can be dynamic.

A functional information system (FIS) can be implemented using the syntactic tags described herein. The FIS can create domain-specific coordinate systems that enable data entities in a domain to be syntactically identified and related. Domain-specific syntactic tags contextualize domain specific data entities by relating them to each other within the overall context of a domain (in general) and domain syntax (specifically).

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Syntactic tags can have some or all of the following properties:

Expressions which serve as the labels for tags. Such expressions can conform to a syntax expressible in BNF notation or an equivalent meta-notation.

Any valid expression or sub-expression consisting of more than one element of the syntax, can form a locus.

Any element of the syntax that has a range of potential values describes a dimension in a discrete multidimensional space consisting of the dimensions associated with all such elements.

Any expression or sub-expression of the syntax, containing elements which have a range of potential values, may be hierarchically organized, in which case that expression or sub-expression describes a dimension which consists of regions and successive sub-regions within the multi-dimensional space. As a default, elements of syntax which are designated as hierarchical are interpreted from left to right according to their position within the expression, as successive levels from top to bottom within the hierarchy.

Syntax can represent hierarchical coordinates that provide successive specialization; the degree of specialization grows with the depth of the hierarchy. The syntax can also provide step-wise serialization at each level; the degree of serialization grows with the number of elements at each level.

In addition, at each level of specialization and/or degree of serialization, the syntax elements share a proximate syntactic position with both:

a) their parent in the hierarchy; and

b) their siblings in analogous positions across different hierarchies in the same syntax in the same domain.

Syntax elements may be considered to have a proximate syntactic position if they are relatively close to other elements based on either their hierarchical specialization or serial positions. These relationships allow for comparison of values across syntactic positions. This property supports applications including but not limited to the complex structures, population sorting, autoclassification, and integration with prior art temporal and spatial classification systems.

As a default, elements of syntax which are designated as hierarchical are organized alphabetically and/or numerically within a given level of a hierarchy.

As used herein, a domain can be, but is not limited to, a field of action, thought, influence, etc., such as the domain of science. Non-limiting examples of other domains are illustrated in FIGS. 1-4.

The FIS can be implemented as a database system which utilizes syntactic tagging and the related concept of a locus, as a logical model for organizing data about a domain. A basic implementation of the FIS can be achieved by having a store of the syntactic terms of the FIS to augment the store of data entities in the domain. Each data entity would need to have a reference to its location in the FIS. These table references, would make it possible to search for all data-entities in a specific position as well as search for the position of any data entity in the system.

Syntactic Tag Use

Syntactic tags are assigned to structured or unstructured data, either manually or via an automated process and can be associated with a unique identifier for each data entity. When sets of data entities are associated with a bounded, well-known range of objects or entities, then a lexicon containing standardized identifiers may optionally be used to facilitate the assignment of identifiers to data entities.

Syntactic tags can be used to represent the syntactic components of a domain-specific data entity. They can be used for recording and storing information that indicates to a user how specific data entities relate to each other and/or to the specific domain. The tags can be used to determine which data entities are similar and/or why they are different and or to what degree they are different.

Storing domain-specific syntactic components of domain-specific data entities adds a dimensionality to data that may not otherwise exist. It is through establishing a set of rules for a domain that it is possible to change how information in a domain is managed. By establishing domain-specific rules, it is possible to characterize the syntactic components of data entities in a domain and populate sets of domain-specific syntactic tags. They can be assigned to any domain-specific data entity associated with a domain-specific syntactic position. Once assigned, stored and retrievable, the data entity can now be related with any other data entity that shares any value on its syntactic tag. It can be used for grouping of information based on, for example, broad values or very specific values. If the values are broad, it provides the ability to create ever-smaller sub-sets within the context of the broad set. If other domains share the same syntax, the tags can be used to compare data entities in one domain to data entities in other domains based on shared syntax.

The rules of syntax can be based on an arbitrary number of factors. As non-limiting examples, they could be based on common temporal order, spatial order or mechanical order. The rules could be areas specialized to a specific domain such as the order of its influences or of its origins. The rules could be experimental and the validity of the rules could be tested using syntactic tags. In each case, the knowledge influenced by some ordering principle has a syntax that provides the rules for the domain-specific ordering. The syntax provides valid positions for all domain-specific entities associated with these rules. Once recorded, stored, and retrievable, the process of relating domain-specific data entities based on syntactic tags can be based on established rules defining how different data entities relate and why. This system can be applied to any domain and any syntax. In so doing, it provides a tool to add dimensionality to information from any field. It can also provide a procedure for converting a legacy system from any field into this framework by applying syntactic tags to the legacy codes. An example syntax is illustrated in FIGS. 5-1 and 5-2.

Syntactic positions in the system have specific attributes that are associated with the rules of the syntax. For example, if a domain-specific syntax is a temporally-based syntax, the attributes will be temporally related; if it is a spatially-based syntax the attributes will be spatially related; or, if the syntax is mechanically-based, the attributes will be mechanically related. If the syntax is sequential, the attributes will be sequentially related. If the syntax is nested, the attributes will be related to the rules of nesting. Relational attributes are domain-specific. Within a domain they are specific to the underlying rules of the domain-specific syntax. An example syntax tree for economic systems is illustrated in FIG. 6.

To create syntactic tags, first a domain is defined, then a domain-specific syntax is defined. Once these steps are performed, syntactic tags can be created. In a preferred embodiment, the system can be configured so that the specific rules of the domain-specific syntax are fully represented in these domain-specific syntactic tags.

Syntactic tagging links data entities with shared attributes by assigning each data entity to an element in the set of common syntactic tags. The syntactic tags associate data entities with the other data entities in a domain according to their syntactic associations. Thus, they inherently group and/or cluster all data entities that share syntactic tags.

Syntactic Tagging Operations

In some embodiments, syntactic tags can be assigned to data entities which have one or more attributes in common, or the same or similar meaning, in a context of interest for the domain to which the FIS is applied. By tagging data entities with data-entity-type tags, the system can operate on multiple different kinds of data within a domain or data set. For example, data for products or markets can be added to company data. This function can be used in connection with flagging functions, described below, to indicate that certain tags may be required only for specific data-types.

Hierarchically organized tags can be used to express:

(1) successive specialization, whereby all data entities that share the same tag at a higher level also share certain common characteristics or meanings within the domain; and the ordering of such labels within a level is a matter of tag assignment convention, or is arbitrary

and/or

(2) a sequential process whereby all data entities that share the same tag at the next higher level also share the common characteristic that they are successive steps the same sequential process of the domain, at the same level of process-detail; and the ordering of such labels within the category directly reflects the sequence of steps.

Domain Model Completeness for Structures of Interest

The complete enumeration of the valid syntactic tags, as determined by the syntax, in as-intended use, provides a complete pre-existing model for the structures of interest in the domain to which the FIS model is applied, regardless of whether any data is actually tagged with any given label.

Multiple Syntaxes

Syntactic tags do not need to derive from a single syntax. The FIS can be implemented using multiple syntaxes for tagging of the same data within a given domain. Syntaxes which apply to more than one domain can be used as the basis for a functional equivalence across those domains.

Simple Multiple Syntaxes

A simple multiple syntax can be used to enhance the value of applying multiple syntaxes to an FIS model of a domain. For example, if an executive recruiting FIS model/domain is established which encompasses not only the company data set associated with economics/business domain, but also additional data, executive recruiting data can be used within the economics/business domain to enhance investment portfolios with executive team performance metrics, based on historical performance analysis associated with members of the executive team when they were at previous companies. As a result, the system can be used to avoid correlation and ensure diversification as well as screen for companies likely to outperform based on executive team.

Complex Multiple Syntaxes

A complex multiple syntax can be used to enhance the value of applying multiple syntaxes across an FIS model of a domain. Similar to the manner in which multiple syntaxes can be applied to a single data set, those multiple syntaxes can be applied across distinct data sets (each of which may have one or more syntaxes associated with it). As a result, syntaxes and data sets can have one-to-many, many-to-one, and/or many-to-many relationships, as described below.

One-to-Many: One syntax (e.g., executive recruiting) applied to a company data set and an individual-executive data set.

Many-to-One: Similar to simple multiple syntaxes, for example, executive recruiting and economics/business syntaxes could be applied to the company data set.

Many-to-Many: With many-to-many, substantially complex queries and relationships can be explored.

Multiple syntaxes can be used in a variety of different ways for a variety of different applications to order information in a way that it makes data more accessible, searchable and comparative within a domain and across domains.

Syntax Flags

Some embodiments of the system can include syntax flag functionality. A syntax flag is a string of syntactic tags or loci that represent a valid syntactic position. Syntax flags can be used in connection with macro-tags comprising micro-tags, such as in a bar code. In various embodiments, flags can be associated with an entire syntax and/or components of a syntax.

The process of discovery or validation of functional equivalences can be based on a range of valid expressions, including those which are flagged within the syntax. In some examples, a single flag may be applied; in other examples, a flag could be a member of one of several classes of flags. A class of flags can be configured to express the flags which are applied to the primary syntax, in turn by using a syntax (or meta-notation) to describe the flags.

In some examples, syntactic tags can be assigned to data entities which have one or more attributes in common, or the same or similar meaning, in a context of interest for the domain to which the FIS is applied.

The system can be configured to enforce required tags that are so designated, e.g. every enterprise must have an <enterprise locus resource> tag and it may also have a <customer locus resource> tag, and <customer of customer locus resource> tag. For example, the system can be configured to require (in the case of the economics/business domain) companies to have all appropriate tags and the BNF illustrated in the figures could be extended as follows:

<enterprise locus resource>::=<locus>

<customer locus resource>::=<locus>

<customer of customer locus resource>::=<locus>

<locus>::=<subject-resource> <activity> <direct-object-resource> <indirect-object-resource>

In this example, if <enterprise locus resource> does not get tagged with a subject resource because it is implicit or unnecessary, then the definition can be revised as follows:

<enterprise locus resource>::=<activity> <direct-object-resource> <indirect-object-resource>

The system can be configured for an overtly literal designation of the type of locus resource by defining these as having a predetermined literal reflecting the type of locus as follows:

<enterprise locus resource>::=“Enterprise Locus Resource=”<locus>

<customer locus resource>::=“Customer Locus Resource=”<locus>

Autoclassification

Autoclassification can be used for applying syntactic tags to data entities in an existing structured or unstructured domain-specific database through text mining by matching sets of text-mined values associated with a specific data entity to a specific syntactic position (simple or complex) and tagging the text-mined values with syntactic tags that are associated with the specific syntactic position.

Autoclassification solves the problem of having to manually associate large data sets to classification systems. This is the traditional way of classifying data entities in a domain. Traditional classification systems build a domain of related flat taxonomies and then manually tag the information as it is entered in the database, such as a library tags books using the Dewey decimal system or governments classify businesses using SIC or NAICS codes.

Enabled by domain completeness, domain-specificity and domain syntax, autoclassification syntactically tags domain-specific data entities on an automated basis. This function is performed by using domain-specific text mining algorithms that can match words or symbols that are associated with domain-specific data entities to domain-specific syntactic positions (simple or complex) and then tagging the domain-specific data entity with the syntactic tag or tags associated with the syntactic position on an automated basis.

Autoclassification can be used to tag whole domains containing domain-specific data entities with syntactic tags based on a domain-specific syntax. This method can include converting a structured or unstructured domain to a set of standardized syntactic tags that relates data entities in a common domain according to a domain-specific syntax.

Autoclassification can be used to convert legacy classification systems to syntactic tags. This method can include converting a domain that has many sub-domains that utilize non-conforming classification, that are not compatible, to a set of standardized syntactic tags that unifies different systems in a common domain. In some examples, this can include converting businesses, products and labor (all with different systems) into a unifying syntax.

The autoclassification framework can include a domain-specific dictionary in which the terms represent complex syntactic structures with names. The dictionary can be used to tag data entities with complex syntactic structures by matching the dictionary terms with text mining algorithms.

Mapping from one classification system to another is common in legacy systems. For example, when one company acquires another, the two companies may have different information and accounting systems. Moving from one system to another system requires mapping data entities from one system to the other system. Once done, the legacy system that has been transferred is abandoned; information is then collected according to the new system. In many cases, however, this is not possible. For example, governments collect data over long periods of time. Consistency of data is critical in the usefulness of this data.

A data conversion may require applying the conversion to every historical period and/or maintaining two sets of records (an old and a new). A problem may arise in that newer systems may reflect the current vocabulary of the time and place. There is typically is no convenient way to go back and recode the historical. Syntactic tags solve this problem because they use syntactic categories that are unchanged over time. There have been syntactically-definable business entities for much of human history, although the words used to describe them or classify them may have changed.

Syntactic tags can provide a system to reclassify these historical terms in a historically consistent method. This can be performed by the system using a process that collects information about a data entity and, based on that information, selects a term from a predefined dictionary of terms. The terms in this dictionary can have, as attachments, domain-specific tags that classify them in the specific domain and may, in addition, contain contextual identifiers that further identify them within a domain. The algorithm can then attach a dictionary term with its pre-defined tags to the specific data entity. The algorithm enables the system to a tag data entity with multiple identifiers by matching it with a value in the domain-specific dictionary.

Visualizations

The syntax and syntactic tags can be used to enable a visualization engine based on domain-specific syntactic tagging. More specifically, the syntax can be used to describe dimensions of a coordinate space and thereby enable coordinate space graphic plots. The result can be a syntactically-driven visualization and discovery mechanism. Any element of the syntax that has a range of potential terminal values that describe a dimension in a discrete multidimensional space can drive these visuals and enable sets of pre-set inter-level or intra-level visualization packages for any domain.

The syntactic visualization tools of the system can use pre-set visualization templates utilizing coordinates of the domain-specific syntax. The system can be configured to filter the values associated with domain-specific entities to specific syntactic positions on these visualization templates to create a domain-specific template for a specific set of domain-specific data entities. For example, one axis can be syntactic coordinates for jobs and the other axis can be syntactic coordinates for companies and the chosen query might be “Seattle.” The visualization tool would map Seattle jobs into this map according to the specific domain syntax. This same query could then be performed on any other geographic area using the same coordinates. In this way, domain-specific data could be organized according to a domain-specific syntax in standardized form. This form could also be used to compare the same values at multiple different geographic locations and multiple different times.

Syntactic visualization tools can also be powered by a visualization engine that enables the user to custom-select multiple syntactical coordinate ranges and query the system to present a visualization that integrates the multiple coordinates and presents them in a multi-dimensional visualization using a chosen set of domain-specific data entities. Once chosen, this visualization could be used for any set of domain related data entities. The visualizations generated by the system can be used for granular domain-specific analysis and dynamic comparison across the domain at any point in time at any geographic or spatial orientation.

Ordering of Domain-Specific Populations Using Syntactic Tags

The system can be configured to create custom domain-specific hierarchies on domain-specific data entities. Domains consist of heterogeneous populations of domain-specific data entities. The goal of classification systems, in large part, is to organize these data entities into common categories. Syntactic tagging adds dimensionality not available in existing classification systems by relating each data entity to other data entities within a coherent whole. In doing so, it provides dimensionality and customization in the ordering of domain entities. It enables a user to create broad categories of the data entities chosen by the user. It does this by providing an interface for a user to create any desired parent grouping by identifying a narrow set of attributes. It then enables the user to create sub-populations that are characterized by more attributes in addition to the parent attributes. This process can continue until the data entities sorted by the parent query have been exhausted.

The system can be configured to build custom population groupings of domain-specific entities based on syntactic tagging and thereby create custom population control algorithms and structures. In many fields, such as the sciences, there is a science behind population groupings because they are the underpinning of most domain-specific experiments or controls. For example, these type of population groupings enable the tolerances in continuous processes to be optimized, they enable risk to be minimized by allocating data entities across differentiated population groupings such as in clinical trials or risk management in finance, and they can control for variances in customer demand in market demand studies. Domain-specific syntactic tags can be used in the system as a dynamic tool to build custom groupings and test these groupings scientifically against real world examples. They can be used in the system to provide a customization in population control, enable experimentation in the testing of domain-specific relationships relative to domain-specific outcomes and, in turn, they provide the ability to control and predict outcomes.

Integration of FIS with Time and Space

Some domains may depend on temporal or geographic factors. If a domain is independent of these factors, its domain-specific syntax may also be independent. Combining FIS syntactic tags with temporal and geographic data can provide another tool for organizing domain-specific data entities in domains that do depend on temporal or geographic factors. So for every valid syntactic tag there can be a corresponding geographic tag and temporal tag.

Time and space can also be grouped or divided into defined chunks that can be used as specific temporal and spatial (or geographic) tags and attached to domain-specific data entities to complement the syntactic tags. For example, terms such as “long haul” or “short haul” can be defined by such chunking, as can time periods such as “before electricity,” “the period while electricity was being developed,” and “after electricity was developed.” The use of temporal and geographic chunking provides a dynamic not found in traditional classification system that needs to be updated as the domain evolves and changes.

FIS tags can have integrated temporal and geographic values and each query can be an integrated search of: FIS value, temporal value, and/or geographic value. This integration of time, space, and FIS on a domain-specific basis enables powerful types of domain-specific search, retrieval, and analysis.

System Architectures

The systems and methods described herein can be implemented in software or hardware or any combination thereof. The systems and methods described herein can be implemented using one or more computing devices which may or may not be physically or logically separate from each other. Additionally, various aspects of the methods described herein may be combined or merged into other functions.

In some embodiments, the illustrated system elements could be combined into a single hardware device or separated into multiple hardware devices. If multiple hardware devices are used, the hardware devices could be physically located proximate to or remotely from each other.

The methods can be implemented in a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium that provides program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. A computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium can be any apparatus that can contain or store the program for use by or in connection with the computer or instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing the corresponding program code can include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to computerized data storage devices such as memory elements. Input/output (I/O) devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system. Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. To provide for interaction with a user, the features can be implemented on a computer with a display device, such as a CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquid crystal display), or another type of monitor for displaying information to the user, and a keyboard and an input device, such as a mouse or trackball by which the user can provide input to the computer.

A computer program can be a set of instructions that can be used, directly or indirectly, in a computer. The systems and methods described herein can be implemented using programming languages such as Ruby™, Flash™, JAVA™, C++, C, C#, Visual Basic™, JavaScript™, PHP, XML, HTML, etc., or a combination of programming languages, including compiled or interpreted languages, and can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. The software can include, but is not limited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. Protocols such as SOAP/HTTP may be used in implementing interfaces between programming modules. The components and functionality described herein may be implemented on any operating system or environment executing in a virtualized or non-virtualized environment, using any programming language suitable for software development, including, but not limited to, different versions of Microsoft Windows™, Android™, Apple™ Mac™, iOS™, Unix™/X-Windows™, Linux™, etc. The system could be implemented using a web application framework, such as Ruby on Rails.

The processing system can be in communication with a computerized data storage system. The data storage system can include a non-relational or relational data store, such as a MySQL™ or other relational database. Other physical and logical database types could be used. The data store may be a database server, such as PostgreSQL™, MongoDB™, Microsoft SQL Server™, Oracle™, IBM DB2™, SQLITE™, or any other database software, relational or otherwise. The data store may store the information identifying syntactical tags and any information required to operate on syntactical tags. In some embodiments, the processing system may use object-oriented programming and may store data in objects. In these embodiments, the processing system may use an object-relational mapper (ORM) to store the data objects in a relational database.

Suitable processors for the execution of a program of instructions include, but are not limited to, general and special purpose microprocessors, and the sole processor or one of multiple processors or cores, of any kind of computer. A processor may receive and store instructions and data from a computerized data storage device such as a read-only memory, a random access memory, both, or any combination of the data storage devices described herein. A processor may include any processing circuitry or control circuitry operative to control the operations and performance of an electronic device.

The processor may also include, or be operatively coupled to communicate with, one or more data storage devices for storing data. Such data storage devices can include, as non-limiting examples, magnetic disks (including internal hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical disks, optical disks, read-only memory, random access memory, and/or flash storage. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data can also include all forms of non-volatile memory, including, for example, semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

The systems, modules, and methods described herein can be implemented using any combination of software or hardware elements. The systems, modules, and methods described herein can be implemented using one or more virtual machines operating alone or in combination with each other. Any applicable virtualization solution can be used for encapsulating a physical computing machine platform into a virtual machine that is executed under the control of virtualization software running on a hardware computing platform or host. The virtual machine can have both virtual system hardware and guest operating system software.

The systems and methods described herein can be implemented in a computer system that includes a back-end component, such as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, such as an application server or an Internet server, or that includes a front-end component, such as a client computer having a graphical user interface or an Internet browser, or any combination of them. The components of the system can be connected by any form or medium of digital data communication such as a communication network. Examples of communication networks include, e.g., a LAN, a WAN, and the computers and networks that form the Internet.

One or more embodiments of the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, etc. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a network.

While one or more embodiments of the invention have been described, various alterations, additions, permutations and equivalents thereof are included within the scope of the invention.

In the description of embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, which show by way of illustration specific embodiments of the claimed subject matter. The figures herein represent example use cases for the syntactic tagging system and are not intended to be limiting on the scope of the invention. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be used and that changes or alterations, such as structural changes, may be made. Such embodiments, changes or alterations are not necessarily departures from the scope with respect to the intended claimed subject matter. While the steps herein may be presented in a certain order, in some cases the ordering may be changed so that certain inputs are provided at different times or in a different order without changing the function of the systems and methods described. The disclosed procedures could also be executed in different orders. Additionally, various computations that are herein need not be performed in the order disclosed, and other embodiments using alternative orderings of the computations could be readily implemented. In addition to being reordered, the computations could also be decomposed into sub-computations with the same results. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for executing a command in a computing environment to perform a database operation utilizing a computerized representation of a functional system, the method comprising: electronically storing a set of data entities in a database system, wherein the data entities represent elements of the functional system; wherein the functional system comprises a group of related elements ordered by their functional roles in converting inputs to outputs, or as the inputs, or as the outputs; electronically storing functional relationships among inputs to the elements represented by the data entities, outputs from those elements, and roles of those elements in converting the inputs to the outputs; electronically storing a computerized representation of a functional system syntax, the functional system syntax representing functional attributes of the elements of the functional system, wherein the functional attributes are properties of the elements of the functional system; electronically assigning syntactic tags to the data entities based on: the computerized representation of the functional system, and either the functional attributes of the elements which the data entities represent, or the electronically stored functional relationships among the elements; and enabling data creating, reading, updating, and deleting operations on the data entities and tags in the data store to correspond with changes in the functional system.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the functional system syntax represents an ordered relationship among functional attributes of at least two elements of the functional system, wherein the ordered relationship is functional, nonfunctional, temporal, spatial, or mechanical.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the properties are characteristic properties.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising combining data entities to form valid syntactic expressions by assigning syntactic tags to the data entities in the functional information system based on the functional attributes of the elements to which the data entities correspond.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: ordering or grouping the data entities based on their associated syntactic tags; performing a relational search based on the associated syntactic tags; and returning a resultant set based on the relational search, the set comprising data entities, relationships between the data entities, or values based on the search.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein: the elements further comprise one or more resources or activities; a resource comprises inputs or outputs in the functional system; and an activity comprises functions in the functional system.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating non-functional or non-syntactic geographic or temporal attributes, tags, or values with the data entities.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a value to a tag corresponding to at least one of the attributes, wherein the value provides a numerical, statistical, semantic, or visual characterization of a property of an element in the functional system.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing an automated assignment of syntactic tags, attributes, or values using algorithms based on syntactic tags, attributes, or values associated with the data entities.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the data entities correspond to investment securities, and further comprising using the functional system syntax for portfolio management, portfolio construction, index construction, or risk management.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the tags or expressions are ordered, stratified, or segmented and represented in graphical, sequential, clustered, or networked form.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein: the functional system syntax is represented by an n-dimensional coordinate system; a set of n values in an n-tuple of tags represents a specific valid functional location in the syntax representing the functional system; and any set of positions that has common values represents a common set of valid functional locations in the syntax representing the functional system.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling for the heterogeneity of a population or of attributes, tags, or values associated with its members by electronically grouping representations of populations according to their syntactic tags and allocating populations based on the tagged groups.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising controlling for heterogeneity within an index, or an investable portfolio, wherein the population comprises two or more companies, products, or securities.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising controlling for heterogeneity within a gene database, wherein the database electronically represents two or more genes.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the syntax is used to reduce statistical dependence or increase diversification among groups of companies represented in an index or investment portfolio.
 17. The method of claim 1, further comprising building population groupings of entities based on proximity in the functional systems syntax, wherein the proximity is based on temporal, spatial, mechanical, anatomical, physical, or functional order in the functional system.
 18. The method of claim 1, further comprising allocating data entities across differentiated population groupings to increase predictability and stability of performance in the functional system.
 19. A system for executing a command in a computing environment to perform a database operation utilizing a computerized representation of a functional system, the system comprising: an electronic data store that: electronically stores a set of data entities in a database system, wherein the data entities represent elements of the functional system; wherein the functional system comprises a group of related elements ordered by their functional roles in converting inputs to outputs, or as the inputs, or as the outputs; electronically stores functional relationships among inputs to the elements represented by the data entities, outputs from those elements, and roles of those elements in converting the inputs to the outputs; and electronically stores a computerized representation of a functional system syntax, the functional system syntax representing functional attributes of the elements of the functional system, wherein the functional attributes are properties of the elements of the functional system; a computerized processor that: electronically assigns syntactic tags to the data entities based on: the computerized representation of the functional system, and either the functional attributes of the elements which the data entities represent, or the electronically stored functional relationships among the elements; and enables data creating, reading, updating, and deleting operations on the data entities and tags in the data store to correspond with changes in the functional system.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the functional system syntax represents an ordered relationship among functional attributes of at least two elements of the functional system, wherein the ordered relationship is functional, nonfunctional, temporal, spatial, or mechanical.
 21. The system of claim 19, wherein the properties are characteristic properties.
 22. The system of claim 19, further comprising combining data entities to form valid syntactic expressions by assigning syntactic tags to the data entities in the functional information system based on the functional attributes of the elements to which the data entities correspond.
 23. The system of claim 19, further comprising: ordering or grouping the data entities based on their associated syntactic tags; performing a relational search based on the associated syntactic tags; and returning a resultant set, the set comprising data entities, relationships between the data entities, or values based on the search.
 24. The system of claim 19, wherein: the elements further comprise one or more resources or activities; a resource comprises inputs or outputs in the functional system; and an activity comprises functions in the functional system.
 25. The system of claim 19, further comprising associating non-functional or non-syntactic geographic or temporal attributes, tags, or values with the data entities.
 26. The system of claim 19, further comprising assigning a value to a tag corresponding to at least one of the attributes, wherein the value provides a numerical, statistical, semantic, or visual characterization of a property of an element in the functional system.
 27. The system of claim 19, further comprising performing the automated assignment of syntactic tags, attributes, or values using algorithms based on syntactic tags, attributes, or values associated with the data entities.
 28. The system of claim 19, wherein the data entities correspond to investment securities, and further comprising using the functional system syntax for portfolio management, portfolio construction, index construction, or risk management.
 29. The system of claim 19, wherein the tags or expressions are ordered, stratified, or segmented and represented in graphical, sequential, clustered, or networked form.
 30. The system of claim 19, wherein: the functional system syntax is represented by an n-dimensional coordinate system; a set of n values in an n-tuple of tags represents a specific valid functional location in the syntax representing the functional system; and any set of positions that has common values represents a common set of valid functional locations in the syntax representing the functional system. 